Acceptance
by Runic Knight
Summary: [Hiatus] The small tiger of the Juunishi Kisa tries to cope with people discriminating her because of her tiger-like looks. She runs away, and its up to Haru, Shigure, Yuki, Kyou and Tohru to find her.
1. Default Chapter

**Acceptance**  
~ Kisa's Perspective ~

When I look around the room, I see nothing for me. There are desks placed in a circlular fashion around the perimeter of the room. Each desk seated a student. We're all the same age, all the same grade, but we are not alike.

_I am the tiger._

When I gaze around the room, trying to see the people's faces, I only see their outlines. Dark shapes which could move around and talk to one another, but never me. We are different. Even though we are all human beings, we do not seem to share the same beliefs. In this classroom, it almost seems like I do not belong. I do not understand the words they say, even though they are in simple Japanese which I should know. The words that are said in this room by the people who judge me just filter through my ears like they are mumbling.

_I'm cursed._

The bell rings, and the voice of the teacher dismisses us. The other children are noisy, and quickly rush past the doors leading to the playground. As usual, they would go into small groups and play until recess was over. Slowly, I followed them out the doors to the cloudy day that was waiting for me.

The spirits of the Juunishi runs through my family's blood; this I can tell no one. I have the tell-tale signs, just by looking at me. My features are not normal like the other kids. I have dark orange hair and startling cat like eyes. ...I think I scare people, maybe even my own mother. I don't want her to be scared of me. This is why I cannot tell a soul. They will all hate me, for sure. People who find out end up having to have their memories erased, I don't want people to have their precious memories taken away from them.

The kids in my class would often make fun of me at any chance they could. They would point out all my faults. It tore at my insides. There's nothing I can do about it, I didn't decide to be the tiger.

_"Don't talk to Kisa-chan!"_

_"She is strange, ne? Do you see Kisa-chan's stare?"_

_**"Just ignore her."**_

As always, all the children were already playing their games. Energetic baseball games, friendly skipping matches, or just playing house. They were all laughing and having fun. I stand by the door, leaning against the wall. I stand and merely watch the second hand on my watch tick by. _1:46 PM_. Recess would be over in just fourteen more minutes. I sigh lightly. A group of girls were standing near me talking in a circle. They were always together everyday. Once in a while, I could hear my name said in the crowd within the murmurs. I sat down against the wall, and burry my face in my arms. I don't want to hear anymore.

"I wish Kisa-chan wouldn't be sitting so close to us," a girl with light brown curls laughs. "I hope Kisa-chan would never speak to us." Another girl agrees with a giggle. "She's so strange. Let's pretend she doesn't exist, okay guys?"

I did not look up. I just kept my eyes closed. It wouldn't be much longer until I could go home. Once the bell rings, I stand up and wait for everyone to go inside before me. I know that if I walk towards them, they will say nothing. The silence will burn into me, I just know that it will hurt more than their words ever could.

* * * * *

Inside the classroom, I sat down at my desk, and listened to the teacher telling us about a project we would be working on in groups.

"Who do you want to work with, Kisa-chan? You can choose your group first." the teacher smiled at me.

I looked down and stared at my desk, tracing the wood ring pattern on the desk with my finger. I don't want to be heard. I don't want to say. "I..." I didn't say anything.

The teacher waited a few seconds for me to continue, but she went on to the next person. I sat and listened until the end of class, watching everything, but not saying a word.

The bell rang at the end of class, and I stood up to leave. Before I could put my books in my backback, my teacher asked me another question. "Kisa, are you alright? Why didn't you answer me earlier?"

I was silent for a minute. I looked at the ground, avoiding her eyes. I glanced up quickly, but she was still waiting for me. She had a persuasive smile on her face, trying to make me feel better. I know she doesn't understand. She could never understand. Most of the class had already left, but a few wanted to see what I would say. From behind me, I heard the girl with the light brown curls whisper, "Now she's even acting strange with the teacher. That Kisa-chan...." I shivered when she said my name.

"I don't want them to hear me," I said in a low voice, the whisper barely rolling off my tongue. Before she could say a word back to me, I grabbed the books from my desk and ran out of the room. Out of the school. I ran on the pavement, my feet hitting the cement with a hollow sound. I didn't pay attention to my surroundings, the world seemed to loom over me today. I felt smaller than usual.

"Oi..." A young man's voice interupted my thoughts. I nearly ran into him, but I stopped right in time. I looked up to see the tall figure of Sohma Hatsuharu looking down at me. "Kisa-chan, what's wrong?" His usual blank expression had a different look on it than usual. A caring glint in his eyes, possibly. "You okay?"

I didn't say a word. I closed my eyes, and just leaned against him for a few minutes. I wanted to cry, but I held back my tears. I know...Hatsuharu is just like me. Just like me, he carries the burden of Juunishi's curse. He would understand, he also looks different, I have features of the tiger, and he has features of the cow. I know this can't be stopped. We, the Juunishi, are plagued with this curse, and there is little chance of anything stopping it. Haru said nothing. He didn't ask anything of me, he simply patted me on the head, and offered to take me home.

I nodded, and took his hand as he led me home.

I know that Haru wants to help me, but he already has the ability to help himself. If anyone pushes him around, he doesn't take their punishment. He doesn't take anything, he'll throw it all back at them with _Black Haru_'s anger. I almost want to be like that; I don't want people to push me like they do, but I can't say anything back. Nothing I say helps, everything becomes worse when I try to speak what I feel.

_These people don't accept me._

_These people fear me._

We walked in silence, but I couldn't stop thinking. Everything at school, the bullies, the teacher, the people who watched me. It made me feel feared, it made me feel unwanted. As I walked, a few stray tears rolled down my cheeks. I suddenly stopped walking, and beside me Haru stopped and waited for me. I felt my insides become weaker as my urge to cry everything out of my system grew. I felt so weak, and I transformed into the tiger.

_I'm sorry, Hatsuharu-san._

* * * * *

He knew. He scooped her up in his arms and said, "I understand." He knew that the fact that other Juunishi would accept her wasn't enough for Kisa. She did not feel accepted in her small little world. He had felt this too, previously, but something had changed and it made his overall mood feel lighter. Honda Tohru._ She understood each and every person in the Sohma family, and she had become a part of his family. Kisa needs someone like her. "I will take you to someone I know, Kisa," he said to the almost sleeping tiger in his arms. I'll let you meet Tohru-san. You'll feel better, I promise."_

* * * * *

  
  


**Author Notes:**   
woot, that was the first part of Acceptance! I hope you liked what you've read so far. I'm planning on concluding this tiny story really soon. Just as a side note, I wasn't trying to connect Haru and Kisa romantically, just as more of a understanding eachother kind of way. ^.~

The last paragraph is in Haru's perspective since it didn't sound right in her perspective. XD Erm, yes. ^_^

I'm not sure if I should just end it like this or add something to tie up some loose ends...I may add some things about Hiro and Kisa, since it's a sad part of FB, but who knows. ^^ Please review with any comments, this is my first Furuba fan fic!

Annnnd of course, I do not own the rights to any of the characters mentioned in this fan fiction.


	2. How It Used To Be

**Acceptance**  
Chapter II: How It Used To Be

I had finally transformed back to my human form, so he and I walked together. Hatsuharu held onto my hand leading me towards Shigure-ojisan's house. Normally, I would have been excited to visit Shigure-ojisan, especially since I only see him once a year at the New Year's Juunishi Party, but today...it was different.

We walked, but I noticed a familiar figure walking on the other side of the road, his light brown hair slightly out of place.

_Hiro-kun...you're here._

I tightened my grip on Hatsuharu's hand. Haru, whose face was usually devoid of any emotion, looked down at me in worry. I caught his eyes, then stares at the ground. He whispered softly, "I'll be okay." I nodded, noticing an understanding look; did he sympathize with me?

Hiro, on the other side of the sidewalk, walked past; his shoulder slightly brushed against mine.

_A memory..._

Hiro and I, we used to be so close. He was definitely the closest friend I had ever had. Had. Past tense.

During last year's New Year's party, he and I had been wandering the halls of the Sohma house, hand in hand. We had been together all day and had a lot of fun at the party. He wanted to tell me something important, which couldn't be said in front of anyone, so we headed outside to the garden.

We were nearly to the exit, when Akito came out of out of the rooms which joined the main hallway. His robes were fluttering eerily as he walked towards us. We let go of eachother's hands quickly. I showed my respect by bowing slightly, and we both moved to the opposite sides of the hall to let him pass between us. Before I knew what was happening, all of Akito's weight had slammed into me, and my body met the wall with a loud thud. I fell to the floor.

I felt the impact, and my head started to pound. I lifted up my head to look up at Akito, but he was not facing me. I was almost glad, because I did not want to look into his unearthly eyes - he made me nervous. My relief faded when I realized that he must have been talking to Hiro. The words being spoken sounded distorted, almost as if I were underwater.

"You see, this is only the beginning of the pain you feel when you're in love." Hiro's eyes widened and his face paled.

Akito simply walked away, heading to his destination as if nothing had happened. The robed man turned the corner, disappearing from view.

I held out my shaking hand, silently asking Hiro to help me. I could feel bruises starting to form on the right side of my body. Hiro looked down at me, still standing across from me at the opposite side of the hall. He glanced down the hallway in the direction that Akito had gone. He didn't take my hand. He ran.

_It didn't used to be this way._

That incident was when things changed between us. Hiro rarely spoke to me anymore. Since then, he has kept his distance, and when he do meet, he always has a reason to leave.

After he ran away from me, I just stayed crumpled on the floor, lost without Hiro's touch. I dropped my hand when I realized that he wasn't going to reach for me, he wasn't going to get help, he was just going to leave me there with no one. I was found crying in that hallway by Momiji and Hatsuharu who were both very worried about me.

The body check from Akito hurt a lot, but the soft brush against my shoulder from Hiro was far worse. He was so cold, what has happened?

Hiro looked straight ahead as he passed by. I turned my head towards him, but he never looked back.

_I am the tiger, after all. The curse keeps me isolated._

I let go of Haru's hand, as the curse set in once again. I turned into my animal counterpart, and ran away - away from Hiro, away from Haru, away from myself.

"Kisa..." Haru said, but he didn't stop her from running. He felt his anger rising. "Damn you, Hiro. Why do you that?! Why do you leave her to suffer alone?" He vented his anger though words, not caring that a nearby mother covered her toddler's ears as they hurried past him.

_Black_ subsided, and the calmer _White_ personality reappeared. Haru looked around his surroundings and realized that he didn't know which direction Kisa had run off to. So Haru headed out to Shigure's house, hoping that his sense of 'misdirection' would eventually lead him to the right place.

* * * * *

In the small home nestled in the lush forest, the Sohma family were just settling down to dinner, which was prepared by Tohru. Tohru nearly dropped one of her plates in her hands when she heard a loud knocking at the door.

"I wonder who that could be?" she wondered out loud. She placed Kyou's dinner in front of him, than ran off to answer the door.

When she pulled the door open, she was face to face with Hatsuharu. "Ah, Hatsuharu-san! What a pleasant surprise. Come on in." She stepped back and allowed him to enter.

"Un. Tohru-kun, you aren't alone in the house, are you? Sounds pretty calm in there." Hatsuharu was normally greeted by the sound of Kyou and Yuki arguing about something or other whenever he was over.

"No, no! Sohma-kun, Kyou-kun and Shigure-san are eating dinner in the kitchen right now. Why don't you come in and eat too? I still have some leftovers I could serve you." Tohru smiled at him, genuinely worried about whether he was hungry. She didn't know how long it took him to get to their house; - sometimes, it would take Hatsuharu a few days to find his way, and during that time he didn't eat a thing.

"Oh, no thanks, Tohru, I just need to talk to them. It's important." Tohru led Haru into the kitchen.

"Haru-kun!" Shigure exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in ages? What brings you here?"

"Yeah, long time no see.... Kisa-chan, she didn't come here, did she?" Haru cut to the chase, not wanting to waste time on idle chatter.

"Kisa? No, I don't think she'd even know what our address is." Shigure shook his head slightly. 

"Oh," Haru said simply. He stood in silent thought, forgetting he was standing in the middle of their kitchen. His mind was elsewhere.

Shigure watched him, and then a grin appeared on his face. "You seem worried about her. Ne, does this mean that you've forgotten Yuki, and are going for Kisa? You _would_ be able to hug her. Oh ho ho ho, a new blossoming romance!"

Tohru didn't want to pry, but she was curious. Did that mean she was a part of the juunishi? She kept quiet and waited to see if she could find out anything by listening first.

Haru didn't seem phased by his question, and gave his automatic. "You know I can't forget him, since he is my first love."

"Stop saying that!" Yuki nearly choked on a piece of his food, glancing at Tohru to see what her reaction to that was. She seemed almost oblivious; she was finishing her dinner, but was listening intently to find out more about Kisa.

Haru ignored Yuki's plea and then continued his conversation with Shigure. "Ie, Shigure. It's nothing like that. Kisa's run away somewhere and I can't find her anywhere. She's upset about Hiro."

"Ano, Hatsuharu-san," Tohru began. She couldn't hold in her curiosity. Who is Kisa?"

"She's the tiger of the Juunishi." That was all Haru's reply was, he wanted to explain about why she had run away, but he didn't want Kisa to get too far away.

"Kyou. Yuki. Would you help me look for her? She has already transformed from emotional weakness twice today. I'm not sure if she would have transformed back to her human form yet or not.

Yuki stood up, carrying his dishes to the sink. "Hai. I'll help. We can split up so we can cover more ground. Baka-neko, you should search too. "

"What?! Why should I have to search? I don't even know what she looks like! I haven't been to any of the New Year's parties, if I must remind you." Kyou said bitterly.

"Can I help?" Tohru spoke up. "I know that I don't know her, but a young girl shouldn't be alone out there at this time of day. It's going to get dark soon. I can replace Kyou since he doesn't want to help."

Kyou objected right away to her idea. "Tohru, you shouldn't go out by yourself either! Someone might try something.... You should just stay home."

"Demo.... Kyou-kun, we should have as many people looking as possible. If something were to happen to her, I'd feel horrible knowing that I stayed at home doing nothing to help." Even though she didn't even know Kisa, she felt sorry for already.

Kyou studied Tohru's face for a minute, and sighed. "Okay, but _I'll_ go with you, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you." Kyou blushed slightly as he said this, wishing he hadn't said that last sentence.

Tohru smiled graciously. "Arigatou, Kyou-kun! Are you sure you want to come with me? You seemed so against it before. I don't want to force you if you really don't want to come."

"Stop thinking so much," Kyou said with a small smile on his face. "I want to come with you, don't worry."

Shigure had disappeared during their debate, but he returned with a photo album. It was filled with pictures from the previous New Year's Party. He opened it, and found a page with pictures of Kisa to show Kyou and Tohru.

"Kawaii-desu!" Tohru exclaimed at the sight of her. "She doesn't seem troubled at all in this picture!"

"Un." Haru agreed. "This picture was taken before Akito attacked her...she was having a hard time at school at this time, but she still had Hiro then." Haru went on to explain some more of her hardships briefly.

"She was attacked by....the head of the family...picked on at school...lost her best friend....how awful! We have to find her!" Tohru held back her tears, determined to help Kisa wherever she was.

"I'm sure we'll find her." Yuki assured her, leading the way towards the door. He grabbed her coat, handed it to her, then put on his own.

Kyou, glared at Yuki as soon as Tohru wasn't looking, then grabbed her hat, not wanting to out done. Shigure nearly laughed out loud at the sight of them.

"Alright," Shigure turned serious. "We can meet every half hour back here to exchange details about our search. Remember, she's probably still a small tiger. Now, let's head out! Adventure time!"

Haru shook his head. "You make this sound like a game or something..."

Haru, Shigure, Yuki, Kyou and Tohru left the Sohma cottage in different directions, hoping to find the fleeing Kisa.

* * * * *

  
  


**_Random_ Author Notes:**   
The second chapter is now complete =) I hope you enjoyed this, I tried to add some humour, though I'm not a very funny person, so it probably isn't really funny at all. *sweatdrop* I just finished a major project in English class, 8600 words long. I'm glad its over. X_X Leaves more time open to work on fan fics, hehe. This chapter turned out a lot longer than my last chapter, I hope that's okay...There's going to be some individual adventures on their search coming up! ^_^


End file.
